Abstract
Marcoux argues that job candidates ought to embellish non-verifiable information on their résumés because it is the best way to coordinate collective action in the résumé ‚game’. I do not dispute his analysis of collective action; I look at the larger picture, which throws light on the role game theory might play in ethics. I conclude that game theory’s conclusions have nothing directly to do with ethics. Game theory suggests the means to certain ends, but the ethics of both the means and ends must be assessed separately before any ethical recommendation can␣be made. Marcoux makes several highly disputable assumptions in order to fit résumés into game theory; his analysis does not take into account the consequences that embellishing has beyond the submission and assessment of␣résumés; his argument depends on his claim that a résumé system in which everyone embellishes is attainable; and finally, his argument relies on an idealization of human␣motivation, rather than abstraction. I conclude that candidates should never embellish their résumés.
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John Douglas Bishop is a Professor in the Business Administration Program at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. His research interests include both business ethics and ethics and capitalism. He is the editor of Ethics and Capitalism, University of Toronto Press, 2000.
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Bishop, J.D. Moral Intuitions versus Game Theory: A Response to Marcoux on Résumé Embellishing. J Bus Ethics 67, 181–189 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9022-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9022-8